News and Articles

Here’s the AV Bookstore 2016 Christmas flyer, to help you in your holiday shopping! Find gifts for the people on your list – from kids to grandparents, and friends of all ages! There are new books this year, including a newly released revised edition of Helen Corey’s classic cookbook Foods from Biblical Lands. And there is a selection of beautiful ornaments featuring the Nativity scene, as well as St. Nicholas and St. Basil.

The 2016 Clergy Wives Weekend will be held at Antiochian Village the weekend of October 21–23. This year's speaker at the pan-Orthodox event will be Catherine Hopko Mandell, daughter of Fr. Tom and Mat. Anne Hopko, and granddaughter of Fr. Alexander and Mat. Juliana Schmemann. She is well qualified to speak from her understanding of life in the clergy family, and will reflect not only on her life as a daughter and granddaughter, but as mother and aunt.

The info and registration form can be downloaded. Scholarship funding is available. To make a request for that, or if you have questions, contact Kh. Stefanie Yazge: SYazge@msn.com.

Every two years, the Antiochian House of Studies host a symposium for Orthodox bishops, priests, and deacons. This year, the Antiochian Clergy Symposium is being held at Antiochian Village from July 18-22, 2016.

Priests and deacons of the Antiochian Archdiocese, in addition to invited clergy and laity, attend lectures and forums relevant to the theory and practice of Orthodox ministry, rooted in the spiritual and historical roots of the Church.

It's time to shop for summer resources from the Antiochian Village Bookstore! For kids, there are the new Magic Cubes that fold and unfold to tell the Story of Creation and Life of St. Nicholas. Great for car rides, playing inside or Church School! And there is a new Prayer Book for even the youngest of the faithful.

It’s also time to enjoy summer reading! New books for youngsters, young adults, and young at heart! A good read for young people is a new book about the life and work of Nikola Tesla. The new “it” car is named after this inventor and scientist who was the son of a priest. Emmy winner Jonathan Jackson has written about using creative gifts that always glorify God, even in and especially in “the world.” For those who love gardens, Vigen Guroian presents the great biblical themes of the granduer of God's creation, the senses as "paths" to experiencing God, and the garden as a place of birth, death, and renewal. And Abbot Tryphon offers daily messages to start and keep one mindful of God…even on vacation!

Beginning today, department and organization leaders from across the Archdiocese have gathered with His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph to review their collective work, pray and fellowship together, and build greater collaborations across our collective efforts.

Also in attendance in their roles as hierarchical overseers of departments and organizations are their Graces Bishop Thomas, Bishop John, and Bishop Anthony, as well as leaders from the Archdiocese financial team and the Board of Trustees. His Grace Bishop Nicholas was unable to attend.

In his invitation to this meeting, Metropolitan Joseph wrote in part: "It is critical that we have departments and organizations of this Archdiocese whose work is dynamic, timely, efficient and impactful on the mission of this Archdiocese. ... It is so seldom that this important group meets. I want to make sure that we allocate in the agenda enough time for thoughtful and productive discussion about how we can all work together for the future of our beloved Archdiocese."

Does your family homeschool? Are you considering homeschooling? If so, plan now to attend the St. Emmelia Orthodox Homeschooling Conference, scheduled for April 7-10, 2016 at the Antiochian Village Conference and Retreat Center outside Ligonier, Pennsylvania.

This year, keynote addresses will be delivered by Fr. Noah Bushelli, Pastor of St. Philip Orthodox Church in Souderton, PA, homeschooling dad, and Director of the Department of Homeschooling for the Antiochian Archdiocese of North America. Fr. Noah will present the topic of Homeschooling and the Marriage Relationship.

Costs are as follows:

Early Bird - Before March 15thSingle Adult/Married couple - $82 Each child 3 and over - $32

The conference offers workshops for both experienced and beginning homeschoolers alike, with simultaneous activity sessions for children ages 3 and up.

Our weekend is both educational and retreat-like, with many opportunities for worship and fellowship with other Orthodox homeschooling families. Workshops cover topics of interest to inquiring, beginning, veteran homeschoolers and supporting spouses. If your entire family cannot attend, we welcome solo attendees, as well!

Attached is the flyer for the Publications Center & AV Bookstore Pre-Lenten Sale that is running in February. The sale features the Little Compline / Akathist books, as well as the Presanctified Liturgy books. There is a considerable quantity discount on them, so parishes can get sufficient copies for their faithful. In addition, there are two books for good Lenten reading.

A CD of the Choir of St. Romanos from Beirut in concert at St. Nicholas Cathedral, Brooklyn, singing a variety of hymns of the Church in Arabic

The Bible for Today’s Family - New Testament, written in clear, easily grasped English that a child can understand—yet appreciated by parents, teens, and grandparents, too

The children's book, Pictures of God, which brings God and His saints vividly into children's lives through icons. The colorful pages are perfect for little hands in church, for explaining the world of icons in the first years of Sunday school, and for read-aloud time with little ones at home

Nativity resources at discounted prices are now available for families from the Archdiocese's Publications Center and Bookstore at Antiochian Village. (Download the flyer and order form.)

Some of them include:

The Biggest Birthday Party, an Advent Calendar for kids age 3-6:This activity book includes 4"x4" pieces of a Nativity icon, to be colored and assembled on a provided master sheet during the twelve days leading up Christmas. An introduction and suggestions for using the Calendar open the book. References to the appropriate Bible verses for each piece and a narrative related to each section of the icon are included.

Praise the Lord Christmas Workbook, for grades 3-6 and families:Games, puzzles, activities, explaining the themes, events and people, and the ways all creation will welcome Jesus.

This year's Clergy and Laity Fall Gathering, our diocese's annual Delegates' Meeting, was hosted by St. George Church of Indianapolis/Fishers, IN, under the leadership of Fr. Nabil Hanna and with the assistance of Dn. Joseph Hazar. The Fall Gathering (formerly Midwest Delegates Meeting) is an opportunity for our diocese's clergy, lay leaders, teens, and others to meet for spiritual fellowship and to work toward a common vision for the year. This was the best attended Delegates' Meeting in many years, with a total of 203 participants made up of 32 Clergy, 70 youth, 41 Ladies, 32 Young Adults, and 28 Men.

The aim of this gathering was to offer something to every group so that the members of this diocese could come together as a family. The meetings began on Thursday, October 15 and 16 for the Clergy. Sessions were offered on the subject of youth ministry by the Director of the Antiochian Village, Fr. Anthony Yazge, as well as a session by His Grace Bishop Anthony.

The theme for the weekend was "Village at Home," where the staff of the Antiochian Village brought aspects of summer camp to the parish.

The book includes five plays for the Christmas season, and is written for maximum participation of students, complete with staging notes, props suggestions, costuming ideas, scripts, playbill covers and activities and discussion questions for after the show!

Sale prices are valid through November 1st, 2015. Download an order form (PDF) and order your copies from Antiochian Village Bookstore today!

The Antiochian Archdiocese Department of Publications has provided a new order form for all liturgical books (PDF), including special Services and English/Arabic Service books. The Department of Publications is now housed at Antiochian Village, and orders made via the new form will be filled by the Antiochian Village Bookstore.

In honor of this year's One Hundredth Anniversary of the Repose of Saint Raphael of Brooklyn, the Antiochian Heritage Museum recently opened an all-new exhibit about Saint Raphael, which includes an interactive touchscreen presentation. With the support of the Antiochian Orthodox Archdiocese of North America, the museum partnered with Wiant Design Works in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, to create the updated display. The exhibit was unveiled during the meetings of the Archdiocese Board of Trustees held at the Antiochian Village in May.

Titled "Saint Raphael: Scholar and Shepherd," the museum's new touchscreen exhibit offers highlights from the theological thesis which St. Raphael wrote as a young seminarian, and which was recently translated from its original Greek into English by the Rev. Dr. Patrick Viscuso. In addition to excerpts from the thesis, the touchscreen also explores highlights from the life of St. Raphael – from his youth in Damascus through his ministry as a priest and bishop in the United States.

Mother Christophora, speaking at a previous Clergy Wives RetreatThe 2015 Clergy Wives Weekend will take place October 23-25, 2015 at Antiochian Village. This pan-Orthodox gathering was established in memory of Kh. Joanne Abdalah, who was concerned about the well-being of women married to clergy. A balanced life was how she envisioned the best way to live in God's grace through all that life brings to clergy wives and their families. In that spirit, the Weekend seeks to provide time for fellowship, time for prayer, time for leaning, and time to just relax.

We are very happy to be welcoming back this year's speaker: Mother Christophora, the Abbess of the Orthodox Monastery of the Transfiguration in Ellwood City, PA.

A new prayer section was recently launched on Antiochian.org. The section is linked on the Archdiocese website's homepage "Worship & Devotion" sidebar and in the footer navigation, and is available across all devices. This means that the most popular sections of A Pocket Prayer Book, the well-loved Antiochian Archdiocese spiritual resource affectionately known as "The Little Red Prayer Book," are now readily available to Antiochian.org's many weekly visitors.

So far, the collection of online prayers includes: Morning Prayers, Midday Prayers, Evening Prayers, Occasional Prayers, Prayers in Preparation for Holy Communion, Prayers of Thanksgiving After Holy Communion, Self Examination Before Confession, and Prayers After Confession. Other prayers may be added as appropriate.

The original prayer book, containing Daily and Occasional Prayers as well as the Divine Liturgy of St. John Chrysostom, was first published in 1956 and is in its thirteenth printing.

Ancient Faith Radio is pleased to announce the launch of a new podcast, featuring updates from staff, clergy, and campers of Antiochian Village Summer Camp. It Takes A Village features homilies, stories, and reports from the daily life of Summer Camp for parents and friends to experience a bit of the life-changing ministry that happens there. The first episode features His Grace Bishop Thomas sharing a homily during the first session of camp this summer. The podcast, found at www.ancientfaith.com/podcasts/avillage, will continue throughout the year to encourage alumni and friends of the camp to continue in their faith journeys.

Staff training week at the Antiochian Village in Bolivar, PA, is complete, and Session One has started! Meet the 2015 summer staff on the Village's website.

The Village's Facebook page reported on Day One this way:

Three words to describe Monday's weather: hot, humid, and rainy. But such could not dull the spirit of our campers, as they were active as ever. We started off the morning with breakfast, giving everyone an extra hour to sleep in. This provided them with the energy they needed to remain attentive in their first sessions of morning program! Some attended "Ask Abouna," doing a Q & A with our lovely session priests, Abouna James King from St. Mary in Livonia, MI, and Fr. Noah Bushelli from St. Philip in Souderton, PA. Our chanting cabins went to the Conference Center for their morning practice, and the rest of the campers were scattered about the camp, and the challenge course.

This past weekend, May 29-31, 2015, the hierarchs and leaders of the Antiochian Archdiocese met at the Antiochian Village for their annual spring meetings. Our bishops met on Friday morning and the Archdiocese Board of Trustees met on Friday evening and Saturday morning. In addition, several other meetings took place including the Village Council and the newly formed cemetery committee.

During the bishops' meeting, our hierarchs discussed various issues relating to their respective dioceses, upcoming clergy transfers and other issues. They also heard a report from Fr. Thomas Zain and Mr. Khalil Samara, the NAC Fellowship of St. John the Divine Spiritual Advisor and President, about the proposed changes to the Fellowship and the newly formed Young Adult Ministry. The hierarchs wholeheartedly endorsed the new concept and one of the NAC officers will attend each of the Parish Life Conferences this year to explain the restructuring of the organization to the faithful of each diocese.

This will be our fourth year for Youth Music Ministry at the Department of Sacred Music's summer Sacred Music Institute. Each year, the numbers grow but every year the students walk away changed, inspired and better equipped to serve their churches with a heightened awareness, more knowledge about the hymnography of the Church and a better skill set with which to vocally execute the music of the Church. They establish deep friendships with their peers who are of like mind and cultivate those friendships throughout the year. It is a wonderful program that I also feel blessed to participate in and hope that you might help promote it in your parishes.

Youth workers representing Orthodox jurisdictions from across the country met at Antiochian Village on January 22, 2015, and are excited to announce a new series of unprecedented, inter-jurisdictional "Be the Bee" themed events. "Be the Bee" is a popular weekly video podcast hosted by Steven Christoforou, the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese's Youth Protection/Parish Ministries Coordinator.

Orthodox youth and young adults are invited to a series of monthly, day-long retreats. Each month, from August 2015 to May 2016, "Be the Bee" will be visiting a different city across the United States, offering Orthodox youth an opportunity to worship, learn, and have fun together. Retreats will also offer programs for young adults, parents, and youth workers. For more information, please contact the Department of Youth and Young Adult Ministries of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese at y2am@goarch.org.

Additionally, Orthodox teens and parents are also invited to a "Be the Bee" retreat Veteran's Day weekend next year, November 11-13, 2016. It will be held at Camp Nazareth, in the Pittsburgh area, and will offer a unique, multi-day "Be the Bee" experience. For more information, please contact campnazareth@acrod.org.

Youth workers are also invited to next year's Orthodox Youth Workers and Camp Conference, to be held January 28-30, 2016. For more information, please contact the Orthodox Church in America's Chair for the Department of Youth, Youth Adult, and Campus Ministry, Andrew Boyd, at aboyd@oca.org.

With the blessing of His Eminence Metropolitan Joseph, the 2015 Archdiocese Mid-Winter Meetings will be held at the Antiochian Village in Ligonier, PA, February 6-8, 2015. The Archdiocese and Diocese officers of the Antiochian Women, Fellowship of St. John Divine, and Teen SOYO will gather for their annual Mid-Winter meetings to conduct the business of our Archdiocese organizations. Travel, lodging, and registration information is below. Please contact your NAC/NAB President if you have any questions.